Hold the Forevers

“Where to?” I asked, sliding into the driver’s side.

“Wherever you want.”

“Are you hungry? I don’t have much at my place, but we could order delivery.”

“Sounds good.”

I drove us away from downtown to my empty apartment. Cole flipped through the back of his camera.

“I got some pictures of you.”

I blinked over at him. “What?”

“I took some cheerleading pictures in the second half. Since I knew where you were.”

I glanced over at his camera, and my eyes were wide. “Cole, that’s amazing.”

“It’s nothing. Just for fun. I thought you’d want some.”

“I do. And they’re so good.” I looked at the next one. “Jesus, you’re so talented.”

“Nah, just a hobby.”

“Well, people can be excellent at their hobbies, Cole.”

He laughed. “I suppose you’re right.”

“You should do more of this.”

“It’s easy to remember to breathe when I’m with you.”

I bit my lip, a flush suffusing my skin. Somehow, he’d managed to take the words right out of my mouth. That was exactly how it had always felt to be with him. Like I could finally breathe again. As if this was just meant to be.

I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex. Cole lugged my cheer bags into the building and pressed the button for the elevator.

“It’s been broken for months,” I said. “We called maintenance, but no one has come out to fix it.”

“Stairs it is.”

We climbed up to the fifth floor.

“Seriously,” I huffed when we made it to my door, “this is the only reason I don’t have a dog.”

“You want a dog?”

“So bad,” I told him. “A little wiener dog.”

He chuckled. “That suits you.”

“Yeah, but there’s no fucking way I’m trekking up and down four flights of stairs in the middle of the night to take them outside to do their business.”

“Fair. What would you name her?”

I pushed inside, and Cole dumped my bag on the table. “How do you know it would be a her?”

“Because I know you.”

I met his searing look. “I’m not sure. I haven’t decided.”

“Sunflower.”

“That’s my nickname.”

“You could call her Sunny.”

“Sunny?” I tilted my head as I looked up at him. He’d come closer. So close. We were only inches away. I could feel the heat off of him. “I like that.”

There was something between us. Something that had never disappeared. That time and distance couldn’t possibly eradicate. And I pulled on that thread, not caring if we unraveled or were knit into a new pattern.

“Lila,” he said like a prayer.

Then his hands tangled in my hair and our bodies pressed tightly together and his mouth was hot against mine. All thoughts of getting dinner evaporated. Had it ever existed? Or was it an excuse to get us alone? Because I could think of nothing else when he was here now.

“I missed you,” I gasped as I tossed his baseball cap to the floor. I ran my fingers through the longer strands, the gentle curls on the ends that called to me.

“So much,” he growled.

I jerked at his shirt, tearing it over his head and revealing the toned six-pack underneath. I dragged my nails down his chest. He made some faint sound of approval before he lifted me in the air and dropped me down onto the couch. His body ground into mine. My leggings no match for the length of him against me.

Everything slowed down and sped up at the same time. As if time didn’t have meaning here. Just the feel of him rubbing against me. The taste of his lips against mine. The sweep of his tongue in my mouth. And the desperate, unmistakable need rushing through my body.

“Cole, please.”

In the years we’d been together, he’d spent hours savoring my body. If he tried that right now, I might combust. I needed him, all of him. And I didn’t want to wait another minute.

We stripped out of our clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor of my apartment. Then, he was there, hovering over me. No hesitancy. No questions. Just a look I knew all too well. It said I was his, and I couldn’t deny that fact one bit.

He slipped a hand under my hips, tilting me up to meet him. I groaned at the first feel of him. My eyes fluttered closed.

“Look at me, Lila.”

I bit my lip and met his cool blue gaze. Then he thrust forward, and I could feel every inch of him inside of me. I gasped at the perfect fit, the feel of finally being full again.

Fuck, I wanted this. I wanted this and more. I never wanted it to end.

He withdrew slowly, and I thought I was going to collapse. But then he drove forward. I clutched at his shoulders, bringing him down for a kiss.

“More,” I begged.

And he obliged.

I wrapped my legs around his hips, using the leverage to meet his every thrust. A thin layer of sweat coated our bodies as we ramped up. But I couldn’t even care; I was so close. Ready to tip over the edge.